People throw around the term ‘rare’
with as much zeal as a Matsusaka beef connoisseur, but rarely does the nomenclature
live up to the timepiece so described. The word “rare” is almost as seductive
as the words “new” and “sex”. It’s one of those trigger words that causes us to
bypass our critical faculties, and that’s why it’s a favourite of all kinds of
snake oil salesmen and some vendors of antiques and vintage watches.

If you’ve been collecting vintage
watches for any length of time, experience clicks in when your retinas register
the word “rare”. Scepticism overrides the tendency to behold the watch with awe,
and questions tend to surface like, “Rare, compared with what?”, “Rare,
according to whom?”, and “Rare, by what standards?”

Thankfully, every now and again a vintage
timepiece shows up that truly merits a description other than “decidedly
uncommon”: a piece that deserves the respect and admiration that comes with a
legitimate label of “rare”. The ensemble pictured is one such example, and you
can see the full reveal here.

I am a long-term collector of vintage Omega watches with a passion for Omega Constellations of the fifties and sixties. This blog is offered as an educational resource for potential and existing collectors who wish to learn more about the brand and avoid the traps and pitfalls of buying in a global market.